2/21/2013-Get Serious About Gun Control

Bob Englehart

Here's an update on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. There isn't one. Well, there is one, but Congress has stripped it of a leader, cut down on the number of agents and choked its budget to the point where it's almost impossible to do its job.

Here's a little history. The division goes back to Alexander Hamilton and the Whiskey Rebellion, which I barely remember. I was so young then. When the United States gummint outlawed booze the way it's outlawed marijuana today (and just as effectively) the ATF became a division of the Treasury Department. The last director resigned under fire and Congress has not confirmed a replacement.

Congress keeps the ATF crippled at the behest of the NRA. No surprise there. The NRA has corrupted Congress at almost every level. True, the bureau (now called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives but still referred to as the ATF) has botched two high profile cases, Operation Fast and Furious and the Branch Davidians slaughter, although in my opinion the Davidians brought it upon themselves.

We need a viable, functioning, active ATF with a director, a data base of gun owners, computers that can talk to other departments and enough agents to do the job. We The Unarmed People of the United States demand it.